Bmi bids to end “stranglehold” of regulation
Bmi has pledged to continue to fight “the stranglehold of regulation” as the carrier prepares to launch new services to India.
The four times weekly flights to Mumbai, which begin tomorrow, represent the first new long-haul competition from Heathrow for 14 years.
Bmi chairman Sir Michael Bishop insisted it was the dawn of a new era.
“We have long campaigned for the right to bring new competition to key long haul routes from Heathrow and we will continue to do so,” he said.
Bmi claimed fresh competition to Mumbai has seen prices tumble by 15% for business travellers and up to 25% for leisure. It has identified 14 routes, including New York, Cape Town and Hong Kong, where similar benefits would occur.
“More than 15 million passengers a year travel on these 14 routes and they are being denied real competition because of regulatory restrictions,” said Bishop.
“Even a 10% reduction on fares would save travellers £600 million. The majority of these routes are from Heathrow to the US. The UK and UK governments would do well to take example of the UK-India model as a solution to releasing the stranglehold perpetuated by the Bermuda II agreement.”
He said the initial priority was to increase its Mumbai service to daily flights for winter 2005-06, as well as launching services to Riyadh later this year and exploring additional routes to India.
Report by Steve Jones
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